Hunter's Inheritance

The town's peace was over.

When Wei Ke stepped onto the street, he saw countless shattered walls and collapsed ruins, along with corpses buried beneath them. The survivors were cleaning up the wreckage, their faces utterly numb.

After just one night, it was as if the world had changed.

"It wasn't just the Wildfire Cultists causing trouble in the town last night. There were also those Corpse Ghouls." Bai Wei stood behind Wei Ke, explaining leisurely. "While you went looking for that Old Hunter, I did some investigating too. There were quite a few Hunters in this town, and it was precisely because of them that this place was more peaceful than others... though that wasn't the only reason. The Corpse Ghouls seemed unwilling to come here in the first place. I still don't know why... but none of that matters now. They've come, and all the Hunters who protected this town are dead."

Wei Ke slowly clenched his fists. "Why did this happen?"

Bai Wei did not answer, and Wei Ke did not need one.

Because Wei Ke knew the answer. Though his memories of last night were hazy, he still remembered what Wu De had said to Ryan.

"Only light shining into darkness shines brightest."

Was that why?

Was that all it was?

After a long silence, Wei Ke spoke again. "Can I go see the Old Hunter?"

"Hm?" Bai Wei said. "There's only a corpse left of him... no, more precisely, only a few pieces of his corpse remain. Are you sure you still want to go?"

"I'm sure."

"Suit yourself." Bai Wei shrugged, muttering, "How strange. Why are people in this world so interested in chunks of corpses... I'll show you the way."

Wei Ke shook his head. "No. I can smell him."

So Wei Ke and Bai Wei came to the Old Hunter's house.

Just as Bai Wei had said, all that remained of Old Hunter Ryan were several charred pieces of flesh, much like Ulu and Jie La Er before him.

Yet when Ulu and Jie La Er died, Bai Wei had not been able to collect their bodies himself. Instead, he had managed it for Ryan, someone he had only met once.

Taking Ryan's body away was not exactly a wise decision, because it might make Wei Ke suspect that Bai Wei had been nearby watching last night.

But how could he put it?

Bai Wei truly could not convince himself to leave such a hero without anyone to collect his body after death, only for the townspeople to burn him together with the dead Wildfire Cultists.

That was why he had made such a somewhat unwise choice, and now he was considering how to answer if Wei Ke asked about it.

Fortunately, Wei Ke did not ask. Upon entering, he simply stared blankly at the remains.

Fine. Looks like I was overthinking it. This guy doesn't have that much going on in his head.

Wei Ke stared blankly.

Ryan's worn Black Hat rested atop the remains. From a distance, it made him instinctively think Ryan was still alive, still sitting beside the brazier and dozing as he had last night.

Only upon getting closer did he realize it was merely a corpse.

"He died trying to save me," Wei Ke suddenly said.

"Yeah." Bai Wei nodded. "He died trying to save you."

"He could have survived."

"Mm. He could have survived."

"Really. He had already escaped by then."

"I see. He had already escaped by then."

Bai Wei kept repeating Wei Ke's words.

This made Wei Ke's previously hazy memories grow increasingly clear.

He remembered more things.

Ryan had pulled him along as they fled. To protect him, Ryan had endured more attacks, until they were finally forced into a dead end.

But his memories blurred again there.

He remembered Wu De saying something to Ryan, and Ryan replying with something.

But he could not remember exactly what. No matter how hard he tried, all it did was make his head hurt more.

"Father Ulu..." Wei Ke murmured. "They called me Saint."

"Mm, I know."

"They said I should be one of their kind."

"I see."

"...But am I really one of them?" Wei Ke turned to Bai Wei. "I can't remember anything. I don't know anything."

"Do you think you're one of them?"

"I don't know. I want to say no... but I'm like them." Wei Ke lowered his head and stared at his hands. "I still remember that I became a monster like them last night. I fought and killed them with claws and teeth. I knew all their movements. I could understand their language... Doesn't that make me one of them?"

As he spoke, Wei Ke's hands began to tremble softly again.

"I was never a Hunter to begin with. I was a Wildfire Cultist. I should have been on their side. If I hadn't lost my memories, then last night, I should have been one of the monsters that stormed into this town and began slaughtering people."

Wei Ke's hands trembled harder and harder.

In Bai Wei's eyes, the pale brown in Wei Ke's gaze was gradually turning green, while bristles slowly emerged across the back of his pale hands.

"And Ryan... he died to save a monster like me... He died to save a monster like me."

Wei Ke's waist gradually bent downward, and he was soon about to drop onto all fours.

"I am... one of them."

Seeing this, Bai Wei calmly asked, "Then why did you fight them?"

Wei Ke froze.

"If you're one of them, why did you fight them with your life on the line?" Bai Wei repeated.

Wei Ke's transformation stopped. He murmured, "Why did I fight them with my life on the line..."

"Exactly. You can't remember anything. You can't understand anything. Yet you still fought them desperately. Why?"

Wei Ke opened his mouth, but could not answer.

"That Guy left you a gift."

Wei Ke raised his head and looked at Bai Wei in slight confusion. "A gift?"

"Yes. Calling it a gift isn't quite right, since you might not want it." Bai Wei rummaged through his pocket. "When I arrived last night, That Guy was guarding your side with only his last breath left. Yet he still held on, waiting for you to wake up, just so he could give this to you... Ah, found it."

Bai Wei pulled out a vial of black-red blood.

Wei Ke did not understand. "This is..."

"That Guy's blood. In other words... Hunter's Blood." Bai Wei spoke calmly. "He told me that after the Senro God died, a Hunter's power could only be passed down through blood. And the birth of one Hunter would inevitably be accompanied by another Hunter's death."

Wei Ke stood frozen. He seemed to have guessed something, but could not believe it.

"Yes, this is the Hunter's Inheritance." Bai Wei said, "Accept this vial of blood, and you will become his successor. You will also become Senro's... last Hunter."

Bai Wei handed over the blood.

"Well? Will you accept it?"

Wei Ke took the vial instinctively.

The moment his fingers touched it, the last piece of his hazy memory became clear.

He recalled the final exchange between Wu De and Ryan last night.

"I don't understand. You had already left, so why did you come back... You should be able to tell that he isn't one of your kind."

"You aren't the same kind, because you are monsters, while he... isn't."

In an instant, Wei Ke's hands stopped trembling.

The faint green in his eyes and the bristles on the backs of his hands rapidly faded.

His beast-like bent body slowly straightened as well.

It was as if only this way could he hold the vial steadily... though he himself did not realize it.

"Looks like you've accepted it." Bai Wei shrugged. "Now, at least Senro's Hunter inheritance hasn't been completely severed."

Wei Ke was still hesitant. "I don't know what I should do."

"That's up to you." Bai Wei said. "You are the last person with Hunter's Blood, so only you can decide what kind of person you ultimately want to become."

Bai Wei's meaningful words made Wei Ke frown once again, but this time his confusion did not trouble him for long. Soon, his eyes became resolute.

"I want to uncover the truth."

"The truth about that little dog?"

"...Not just A De." Wei Ke said. "The Wildfire Cultists too. The past of this land. What exactly happened with the Senro God and the Wildfire Cultists—I want to understand all of it."

"Can you do it?"

"I don't know." Wei Ke said softly. "But I have to do it, because I may be the only person connected to both sides. That means I'm the only one who can do this."

"That's a good mindset." Bai Wei watched Wei Ke's eyes. "But if you continue digging deeper, you may recall more things, including some unpleasant memories. Is that all right?"

Wei Ke's reactions had always been somewhat slow, but this time he caught Bai Wei's hidden meaning. After a brief silence, he answered firmly.

"No matter what I remember in the end, what I learn, or what I become," Wei Ke said, "I will always remember who I am and what I need to do."

"Is that so?" Bai Wei chuckled. "Then do you remember what else you need to do after all of this is finished?"

Confusion immediately flashed through Wei Ke's eyes. "Is there something else?"

Bai Wei waited a while. When Wei Ke still failed to recall it, he reminded him, "Have you forgotten your first Hunter commission? You still haven't brought that news back to the little girl."

Wei Ke suddenly understood. "Oh, right."

"Tch. With a memory like that, you say you won't forget things."

"I-I didn't forget!" Wei Ke tried to argue. "I just... temporarily forgot."

His face grew redder the more he spoke.

"Whatever." Bai Wei shrugged and turned away. "Use That Guy's blood first... and let me remind you, this blood is injected into the body, not meant for drinking."

"Ah, is that how it works?"

"Tch. Illiterate."

Wu De stopped walking.

More precisely, he had finally stopped.

He had been running from last night until now, never stopping to rest even once.

He had feared that if he stopped, That Guy would catch up to him.

Fear had become the most effective source of motivation, but even so, after running madly until now, he could no longer endure it and had no choice but to stop and rest.

...So where had he run to?

Wu De felt dizzy, unable for the moment to tell where exactly he was.

When he fled last night, he had planned to run straight back to see the Chief.

Yet Wu De remembered that the Chief was currently at the most crucial stage. No one could see him now, not even a Chief like himself.

But if he could not see the Chief, where else could he go?

Go find the other Chiefs?

That was even less possible.

All his subordinates were gone, and he himself had been seriously injured. Going to find the other Chiefs at a time like this would definitely not be wise.

The Wildfire Sect believed in the law of the jungle. It was so toward outsiders, and the same was true within the sect.

So for a time, Wu De did not even know where to go. In his panic, he had run into a place even he did not recognize.

What was he supposed to do next?

Wait here for the Chief to become the master?

But would last night's unexpected situation truly not affect the Chief's final path of advancement?

Wu De grew exceedingly irritated and began pacing back and forth.

Then, he heard a faint set of footsteps nearby. His expression stiffened at once. Instinctively thinking That Guy had caught up again, he prepared to flee.

But just as he raised his foot, he suddenly realized that he still had a nose, didn't he?

So he sniffed, then lowered both his raised foot and his racing heart.

It was not That Guy. This was an utterly unfamiliar scent.

And it did not carry much threat.

In other words, was it an ordinary person who had wandered into the mountains?

But would an ordinary person come to a place like this?

Wu De was suspicious, but he had not yet reached the point of being scared off by an ordinary person's scent. So he stayed where he was.

Perhaps he could even use this chance to have a meal and recover some strength.

Thinking this, he assumed a hunting posture.

The instant the other party showed himself, Wu De pounced.

Two minutes later, Wu De, with only half his body remaining, completely lost all signs of life amid unbelievable terror and shock.

The man who had suddenly appeared merely frowned and brushed the filth from his body.

"What an idiot." He shook his head and prepared to leave.

But at that moment, he sensed something and looked back at Wu De's corpse.

After thinking for a while, he still walked over to Wu De, pulled out a section of intestine from the corpse, and began chewing it.

Then, a delighted expression appeared on his face.

"So he really is there? Hand Eye really didn't lie to me."

He unconsciously grinned.

The teeth in his mouth were as sharp as blades.